WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:11.679 In twenty twenty, pregnant Nicole McGregor disappeared from Lemington Spa. 2 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:15.919 Her frantic boyfriend Chris searched for her, helped by a 3 00:00:16.039 --> 00:00:20.760 new friend. He had no idea that his friend was 4 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:23.280 stone cold killer Anthony Russell. 5 00:00:23.719 --> 00:00:27.440 Chris saw a newspaper and realized that Anthony was the 6 00:00:27.480 --> 00:00:29.559 person that the police were looking for in connection with 7 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:30.879 the team murders in Coventry. 8 00:00:32.520 --> 00:00:36.159 The last person to see Nicole alive was wanted for 9 00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:40.240 the brutal murders of Julie Williams and her son David, 10 00:00:41.119 --> 00:00:45.560 and now Anthony Russell had killed a third victim. 11 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:48.920 He was saying things to Nicole's boyfriend like, oh, he 12 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:53.119 must be really looking forward to becoming a father. He 13 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:55.119 knew that Nicole was dead. 14 00:00:56.960 --> 00:01:01.320 Anthony Russell went on the run, sparking a huge manhunt. 15 00:01:02.600 --> 00:01:06.200 This wasn't a that of madness was calculated, and that 16 00:01:06.280 --> 00:01:08.799 calculation had cost three people their lives. 17 00:01:13.079 --> 00:01:17.920 Had Russell murdered three innocent people and destroyed the lives 18 00:01:17.959 --> 00:01:19.200 of those left behind. 19 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:21.840 Daniel didn't want to live without his mom, or up 20 00:01:21.879 --> 00:01:22.599 without his brother. 21 00:01:23.159 --> 00:01:26.760 His week long murderer's rampage left a trail of death 22 00:01:26.760 --> 00:01:31.519 and destruction, making twisted Anthony Russell one of the world's 23 00:01:31.599 --> 00:01:57.480 most evil killers. The search for thirty nine year old 24 00:01:57.560 --> 00:02:01.040 Anthony Russell was one of the largest in West Midland's 25 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:02.040 police history. 26 00:02:03.719 --> 00:02:07.319 We launched a huge manhunt. I think we had two 27 00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:09.400 hundred officers that were working on it. We've got a 28 00:02:09.439 --> 00:02:13.120 responsibility to protect the public. That's our number one responsibility. 29 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:15.360 And you've got someone who's already been prepared to kill, 30 00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:16.520 who's on the loose. 31 00:02:17.719 --> 00:02:21.000 The police put in the papers a photograph of him. 32 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:23.319 Can it come on the radio every half hour? This 33 00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:27.159 man is dangerous, Do not approach him. So the police 34 00:02:27.199 --> 00:02:30.199 already knew what he'd done and they were frightened for 35 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:30.719 the public. 36 00:02:31.960 --> 00:02:35.919 Over the course of a week, Anthony Russell killed three people. 37 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:39.680 This was a murderer without mercy. 38 00:02:42.120 --> 00:02:46.120 This wasn't just enough violence to kill somebody. This is 39 00:02:46.120 --> 00:02:50.080 what we call over kill. So that's way more violence 40 00:02:50.199 --> 00:02:52.680 than is needed to kill that person. 41 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:58.479 The carnage that Anthony Russell left behind will stay with 42 00:02:58.599 --> 00:03:00.800 his victims loved ones forever. 43 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:04.319 You never expect something like that ever to happen to 44 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:07.800 your family. Ever. He might watch on the television, read 45 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:10.319 about it in a book, but to actually have it 46 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:14.039 happen to you absolutely ripped our families apart. 47 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:21.439 This killer's story begins in the West Midland city of Colentry. 48 00:03:22.919 --> 00:03:25.719 Anthony was born on the sixteenth of April nineteen eighty two. 49 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:29.280 He'd got a number of siblings, had a difficult childhood 50 00:03:29.319 --> 00:03:32.639 and he grew up mainly in care. He used to 51 00:03:32.680 --> 00:03:35.560 regularly go missing when he was in care and he 52 00:03:35.639 --> 00:03:39.599 was often difficult to find, so he would be reported 53 00:03:39.639 --> 00:03:41.759 missing on a regular basis and it would take quite 54 00:03:41.800 --> 00:03:44.639 a long time to find him. 55 00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:49.759 As he entered adulthood, bad behavior became criminal behavior. 56 00:03:50.879 --> 00:03:57.120 Anthony Russell had a track record of low level crime theft, burglary, 57 00:03:58.240 --> 00:03:59.400 possessing weapons. 58 00:04:00.759 --> 00:04:02.280 There was a bit of violence in there. I think 59 00:04:02.280 --> 00:04:05.000 he was convicted of a robbery, crimes that are often 60 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:06.479 associated with people that have. 61 00:04:07.879 --> 00:04:08.960 Substance issues. 62 00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:13.800 It's pretty clear that Anthony Russell had a very big 63 00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:14.680 heroin addiction. 64 00:04:17.399 --> 00:04:21.360 In twenty twenty, Russell was thirty eight years old and 65 00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:24.759 living in a flat in Riley Square in the Belgreen 66 00:04:24.839 --> 00:04:26.120 area of Coventry. 67 00:04:27.319 --> 00:04:31.480 It was a nineteen sixties development. It's sort of precinct 68 00:04:31.639 --> 00:04:34.319 type design. It was built in a quadrant, so you 69 00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:37.279 have shops all around the bottom of the quadrant, and 70 00:04:37.319 --> 00:04:39.800 then I think there's about four or five stories above 71 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:44.319 that which contains flats, so a very sort of urban 72 00:04:44.680 --> 00:04:47.639 area with local shops. So it was quite a close 73 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:49.360 knit community. 74 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:54.319 On that same estate, living in a one bedroom flat 75 00:04:54.600 --> 00:05:00.360 was fifty eight year old Julie Williams, widowed, young, raised 76 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:02.199 her sons alone. 77 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:07.399 Julie was my brother's partner, the love of my brother's life. 78 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:11.920 My brother unfortunately passed away when he was thirty nine. 79 00:05:12.199 --> 00:05:16.040 Julie and her eldest son, David shared a close bond. 80 00:05:16.920 --> 00:05:22.040 David is my nephew. David didn't have along with my brother, 81 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:24.959 which is a great shame because his dad absolutely adored him. 82 00:05:25.160 --> 00:05:30.319 He and his brother Daniel, he absolutely adored his mom. 83 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:35.319 They lived together and they went out together. He lived 84 00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:39.600 for his mom. He was very family orientated. He had 85 00:05:39.639 --> 00:05:42.920 lots of cousins that he got on with everywhere. Everybody 86 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:45.759 absolutely loved him because he was such a happy chappie. 87 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:51.120 On Wednesday, the twenty first of October twenty twenty, thirty 88 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:54.000 two year old David did not come home as planned. 89 00:05:54.439 --> 00:05:57.800 Three days later, Julie still hadn't managed to get in 90 00:05:57.879 --> 00:05:59.519 touch with David. 91 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:02.680 My daughter Fomi or and she said there's something on 92 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:12.480 the internet. She says that Julie's looking for David. She 93 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:16.600 put out on the local radio. Has anybody seen David? 94 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:20.040 But we just thought always crashed out at one of 95 00:06:20.040 --> 00:06:23.279 his friend's houses, you know, and he'll be back in touch. 96 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:27.480 She first came to the attention of police on Saturday, 97 00:06:27.560 --> 00:06:30.839 the twenty fourth of October twenty twenty, and that was 98 00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:34.040 a report made by Julie to say that her son 99 00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:35.519 David had gone missing. 100 00:06:37.120 --> 00:06:40.360 Police will always do a kind of a victimology when 101 00:06:40.360 --> 00:06:42.879 they get a missing person report, and that will be 102 00:06:43.079 --> 00:06:48.920 largely around vulnerabilities and how unusual it was for this 103 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:50.000 person to go missing. 104 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:55.480 This daily routine involved him being in the local area 105 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:59.800 and associating with friends and spending time with his mother, 106 00:07:00.360 --> 00:07:02.759 so it was really unusual for him not to be 107 00:07:02.839 --> 00:07:05.079 in contact with her or to come back home. 108 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:09.199 We have a dedicated team that deal with missing persons. 109 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:14.040 Inquiries were started to be made around house to house 110 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:16.959 inquiries looking at CCTV to see when they could see 111 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:17.920 his last sighting. 112 00:07:19.639 --> 00:07:24.879 West Midlands Police identified David as a man struggling with addiction. 113 00:07:26.360 --> 00:07:28.560 He didn't want to do drugs, but all those around 114 00:07:28.639 --> 00:07:32.439 him were, and unfortunately David got into that way of living, 115 00:07:32.759 --> 00:07:37.560 which changed him as a person. And I think that's 116 00:07:37.560 --> 00:07:39.399 why his mum always kept an eye out for him 117 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:40.079 all the time. 118 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:45.759 He'd been using drugs, it seems for some considerable time, 119 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:48.800 and all his connections were in the world of people 120 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:50.759 who had similar addictions. 121 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:56.120 We knew he regularly visited the chemists for medication, so 122 00:07:56.399 --> 00:07:58.439 they started to look at to see when the last 123 00:07:58.439 --> 00:08:00.839 time it was that he picked his medication. 124 00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:04.399 To work around his phone, see when that was last active. 125 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:10.399 The police obtained David's phone records. Amongst the people that 126 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:13.959 he called friends, there were some that worried his mother. 127 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:17.759 She mentioned one person that she was concerned that he 128 00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:21.079 owed some money for drugs, and she'd also received a 129 00:08:21.160 --> 00:08:24.759 text from David that said he was potentially having to 130 00:08:24.759 --> 00:08:26.959 get out of the area because he owed money for drugs. 131 00:08:27.399 --> 00:08:30.959 I think she thought that was unusual because David could 132 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:33.240 often know money for drugs, but that wouldn't cause him 133 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:33.799 to go missing. 134 00:08:36.279 --> 00:08:42.120 The circumstances surrounding David's disappearance were unclear. Police kept an 135 00:08:42.120 --> 00:08:45.440 open mind about what may have happened, but on the 136 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:49.480 afternoon of Sunday, October the twenty fifth, just twenty four 137 00:08:49.519 --> 00:08:53.799 hours after Julie Williams reported David missing. There was an 138 00:08:53.879 --> 00:08:56.679 unbelievable twist in the investigation. 139 00:08:58.279 --> 00:09:02.240 Julie herself is report did missing by one of her sisters. 140 00:09:03.720 --> 00:09:06.159 Julie kept in touch with her sisters and her brothers 141 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:09.919 every single day, so when she wasn't around, that's why 142 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:12.720 her sister then reported it to the police because she 143 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:14.320 knew that that was out of character. 144 00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:19.159 Once we've done all the background checks into the fact 145 00:09:19.159 --> 00:09:22.600 that David was missing, then it became a real concern. 146 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:25.399 So at this point they went to Julie and David's 147 00:09:25.399 --> 00:09:28.320 address and they couldn't go a response there. 148 00:09:29.759 --> 00:09:33.559 The police said, at eleven o'clock that Sunday evening, break 149 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:38.519 into Julie's flat and they find her dead. 150 00:09:39.639 --> 00:09:44.320 The scene that met them was one of carnage. In 151 00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:47.159 the center laid Julie's blooded body. 152 00:09:48.519 --> 00:09:53.360 Julie been subjected to this episode of prolonged beating, essentially 153 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:55.879 punching and blunt force injury. 154 00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:02.080 Julie had an enormous number of injuries, something like one 155 00:10:02.200 --> 00:10:05.799 hundred and thirteen injuries to her body, so that suggests 156 00:10:05.960 --> 00:10:07.799 a rage fueled attack. 157 00:10:10.039 --> 00:10:13.399 The final act which caused her death was the application 158 00:10:13.480 --> 00:10:17.399 of a ligature. The ligature which was used in Julie's 159 00:10:17.399 --> 00:10:20.240 case was an electric flex from an electric fan. 160 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:26.159 The case was allocated to the homicide team, with Detective 161 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:28.879 Inspector Jim mun put in charge. 162 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:32.559 I am that senior investigating officer, which means that I 163 00:10:32.600 --> 00:10:38.000 am the lead investigator for any serious crime. I went 164 00:10:38.039 --> 00:10:40.879 there in the middle of the night. It's dark, it's gloomy, 165 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:44.480 so just even the inquiries around, just trying to establish 166 00:10:44.519 --> 00:10:46.919 who was going in and out at the time, was 167 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:48.399 going to be really really challenging. 168 00:10:50.279 --> 00:10:53.919 Julie's family woke to the news of her murder. 169 00:10:57.799 --> 00:11:01.000 We heard about Julie and that was from the papers 170 00:11:01.080 --> 00:11:05.720 telling us that they'd found a woman's body. It was 171 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:10.039 so final, It was so traumatic. It is so evil 172 00:11:10.440 --> 00:11:13.799 frightening that somebody could do that to another human being, 173 00:11:14.120 --> 00:11:17.120 and straight away then I think that's when we felt 174 00:11:17.399 --> 00:11:18.960 something bad's happened to David. 175 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:24.399 We obviously then had immediate concerns about the welfare of 176 00:11:24.519 --> 00:11:27.840 David because he was still a missing person, but now 177 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:31.480 Juliet had been killed, so it just really ramped up 178 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:34.480 in terms of one trying to identify who the killer 179 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:37.039 was and secondly try and find where David was. 180 00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:41.519 There were many questions and no answers to what. 181 00:11:41.799 --> 00:11:42.720 May have happened. 182 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:58.120 Investigators needed to find David Williams fast on the twenty 183 00:11:58.200 --> 00:12:02.200 sixth of October twenty two and see. The investigation into 184 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:05.320 the murder of fifty eight year old Julie Williams in 185 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:07.320 Coventry had just begun. 186 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:11.759 At this point we were in the evidence gathering stage. 187 00:12:12.679 --> 00:12:15.399 There was some blood and what looked like a fingerprinting 188 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:20.039 blood on the radiator. There was only a bedroom and 189 00:12:20.080 --> 00:12:23.159 a living room in the flat. David would sleep on 190 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:26.840 a bed in the living room and Julie would sleep 191 00:12:26.840 --> 00:12:31.559 in her bedroom and watch Telly there. Julie was dead 192 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:35.679 on the floor in the room that David occupied her 193 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:39.600 Telly was still on in the bedroom. The neighbors had 194 00:12:39.639 --> 00:12:43.720 heard someone approach Julie's flat the night before, but they 195 00:12:43.720 --> 00:12:48.120 couldn't really hear what was being said. The person that 196 00:12:48.200 --> 00:12:50.799 had killed Julie had taken the keys and had locked 197 00:12:50.840 --> 00:12:53.960 the door behind them, so was probably known to Julie 198 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:55.559 for her to have let him into the house. 199 00:12:57.600 --> 00:13:01.039 For the family, not only the horror of Julie's death, 200 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:06.279 the worry of David's whereabouts, but also the rumors surrounding 201 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:06.919 the murder. 202 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:12.279 People were saying, Davis and that has gone disappearing, and 203 00:13:12.360 --> 00:13:15.039 David's gone and killed his mother. And I said, no, 204 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:17.159 he wouldn't do that. He loves her too much. He 205 00:13:17.240 --> 00:13:19.480 definitely wouldn't do that. And he hasn't got a bad 206 00:13:19.480 --> 00:13:21.279 bone in his body. 207 00:13:22.039 --> 00:13:26.200 We didn't have a suspect at all. The main focus 208 00:13:26.279 --> 00:13:29.159 then was on this fingerprinting blood. Now, that might have 209 00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:33.320 been Julie's fingerprint, but if it wasn't, then. 210 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:35.200 It's most likely to be the killer. 211 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:40.000 That became the sort of priority submission to take a 212 00:13:40.039 --> 00:13:41.840 photo and then see if we can match it to 213 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:44.039 the fingerprint database to somebody on it. 214 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:51.240 Whilst the forensic investigations were underway, the search for David intensified. 215 00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:57.440 Accessing his phone records provided police with vital information. 216 00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:02.120 When we examined david phone, we saw that he was 217 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:05.200 in regular contact, quite a lot of contact with an 218 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:08.399 individual that, when we checked him out on our police systems, 219 00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:11.879 was known to supply Class eight drugs. That phone activity 220 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:15.679 dropped off at the point where David had been reported missing, 221 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:18.360 so there was an assumption there that that person knew 222 00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:21.600 that David was no longer going to be using his phone, 223 00:14:22.919 --> 00:14:26.639 and the Sunday night we had that individual identified, located 224 00:14:26.679 --> 00:14:29.320 and arrested and brought into custody, and he protested his 225 00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:32.639 innocent straight away and provided an alibi. 226 00:14:33.559 --> 00:14:37.559 Part of David's routine included regular visits to the Riley 227 00:14:37.639 --> 00:14:41.360 Square pharmacy where he collected his methodone prescription. 228 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:44.080 What we found out as our inquiries went through on 229 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:47.080 the Monday was that David had been seen going in 230 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:50.320 and out of the chemist with an individual called Anthony Russell. 231 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:52.039 There were both. 232 00:14:51.879 --> 00:14:54.679 Drug users, they lived near each other. They used to 233 00:14:54.759 --> 00:14:57.480 beg in the area for money, so we were quite 234 00:14:57.559 --> 00:15:00.159 keen to trace Anthony. He was the last person than 235 00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:01.799 Julie that had seen David alive. 236 00:15:02.919 --> 00:15:07.480 Five days after David Williams had been reported missing. Police 237 00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:12.240 had a name, thirty eight year old local men Anthony Russell. 238 00:15:13.080 --> 00:15:16.440 We realized that he was a close associate of David 239 00:15:16.919 --> 00:15:20.840 and he lived in the area. He would hang around 240 00:15:20.919 --> 00:15:24.080 Riley Square or around the local supermarkets that surrounded the 241 00:15:24.120 --> 00:15:27.799 area and would beg for money with other people in 242 00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:30.799 that community and then once they've got enough money. They 243 00:15:30.919 --> 00:15:35.399 tended to head towards each other's flats and new drugs. 244 00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:39.840 He was a well known figure in the area and 245 00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:42.279 one with a reputation for trouble. 246 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:47.679 He was unhinged. He wasn't normal, you know, his behavy 247 00:15:47.799 --> 00:15:51.080 wasn't normal. But people were always frightened of him. So 248 00:15:51.159 --> 00:15:53.919 he got moved on, but nobody ever did anything about it. 249 00:15:55.320 --> 00:15:58.279 He used to go up to the hospital and annoy them. 250 00:15:58.600 --> 00:16:01.399 My daughter works at the hospital and she said that 251 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:04.120 security'd had to move him on several times. 252 00:16:07.399 --> 00:16:11.000 We tried to locate him. We went to his flat, 253 00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:16.159 couldn't get any response on the flat. We forced entry 254 00:16:16.200 --> 00:16:19.919 into his flat to try and search for Anthony and David. 255 00:16:20.600 --> 00:16:25.799 Anthony Russell's sparsely furnished flat was spattered with blood. A 256 00:16:25.840 --> 00:16:28.320 brief search uncovered the sauce. 257 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:32.720 On that Monday evening, we found David's body hidden underneath 258 00:16:32.759 --> 00:16:38.320 Anthony's bed. What was evident was that he had been 259 00:16:38.600 --> 00:16:41.039 quite savagely beaten, so it had been quite a lot 260 00:16:41.080 --> 00:16:45.519 of brute force used on David. 261 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:50.240 Either those injuries were defensive and came as a result 262 00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:55.120 of a full out fight with his attacker, or again 263 00:16:55.639 --> 00:16:59.600 they could have been about the rage that the attacker 264 00:16:59.639 --> 00:17:00.159 was feeling. 265 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:05.240 My daughter firred me up and she was screaming down 266 00:17:05.279 --> 00:17:11.119 the phone at me, She says. They found David. We 267 00:17:11.160 --> 00:17:16.960 was devastated. I couldn't eat or sleep, and every time 268 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:19.319 I closed my eyes, I kept thinking about what David 269 00:17:19.400 --> 00:17:22.680 must have gone through. He must have been so scared, 270 00:17:23.319 --> 00:17:25.880 because he probably wouldn't have believed it. You know, if 271 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:28.200 somebody went to attack him, he'd probably just laugh, thinking 272 00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:30.400 it's a joke. He wouldn't have realized until it was 273 00:17:30.440 --> 00:17:30.920 too late. 274 00:17:33.319 --> 00:17:38.160 David's death meant the police faced an entirely different investigation. 275 00:17:39.480 --> 00:17:43.000 It had gone from a missing person on Saturday, a 276 00:17:43.119 --> 00:17:45.920 murder and a missing person on Sunday. We've now got 277 00:17:45.920 --> 00:17:51.559 two murders. This now is where the investigation really really 278 00:17:51.640 --> 00:17:57.160 ramped up. David had suffered from eighty one external injuries, 279 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:02.240 some including a knife, had been stabbed. It'd got some 280 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:04.440 severe wounds and bangs to his head. 281 00:18:06.839 --> 00:18:10.519 Also, there was a lanyard around his neck which was 282 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:14.960 causing neck compression, which would be very similar to Julie. 283 00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:20.480 The lanyard ordinarily held David's keys, but they were not 284 00:18:20.839 --> 00:18:25.559 with his body. Detectives believed his and his mother's deaths 285 00:18:25.960 --> 00:18:26.599 were linked. 286 00:18:26.839 --> 00:18:30.079 The fact that I could see similarities between Julie's body 287 00:18:30.200 --> 00:18:33.920 and David's body supported the notion that was likely to 288 00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:37.279 be just one person, and I could see that the 289 00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:41.359 changes in which were present in David's body would suggest 290 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:44.839 that he was in fact the first victim, with Julie 291 00:18:44.839 --> 00:18:46.440 following on afterwards. 292 00:18:50.200 --> 00:18:53.599 We've got two crime scenes that were working through, working 293 00:18:53.599 --> 00:18:56.039 through all the phone evidence, working through who were the 294 00:18:56.119 --> 00:18:59.920 last people to see everyone alive, and understanding their background. 295 00:19:00.200 --> 00:19:02.680 But the main priority is we've got someone who's killed 296 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:05.400 two people on the loose and is a real danger 297 00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:06.000 to the public. 298 00:19:07.319 --> 00:19:11.960 The double murder investigation was code named Operation in Shore, 299 00:19:12.519 --> 00:19:16.160 and detectives had one person at the top of their list, 300 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:17.519 Anthony Russell. 301 00:19:21.079 --> 00:19:23.720 Anthony Russell is a person of considerable interest in the 302 00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:25.319 killing of David and Julie Williams. 303 00:19:26.519 --> 00:19:29.799 When we spoke to his family, we found that he 304 00:19:30.200 --> 00:19:33.599 had left the area, but he never had a phone. 305 00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:35.720 He never had his own mobile phone, so we had 306 00:19:35.720 --> 00:19:38.559 no way of tracking his phone or understanding who he 307 00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:41.799 was in contact with, and it just disappeared from Coventry, 308 00:19:41.880 --> 00:19:43.839 So we'd got a big man hunt on the go, 309 00:19:44.119 --> 00:19:45.480 but we had no idea where he was. 310 00:19:45.519 --> 00:19:48.039 At this point where. 311 00:19:47.799 --> 00:19:52.519 They suspected double murderer at large, every precaution. 312 00:19:52.279 --> 00:19:53.200 Had to be taken. 313 00:19:54.079 --> 00:19:58.200 The alert on Russell was put out nationwide. 314 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:00.759 They put it on the in and in the Common 315 00:20:00.839 --> 00:20:05.400 Chieving Telegraph. They were showing you photos of this Anthony 316 00:20:05.480 --> 00:20:07.839 Russell saying do you not approach him? He is very, 317 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:08.799 very dangerous. 318 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:12.759 We were getting sightings all over the country and we 319 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:15.599 couldn't ignore these sightings because we had no way to 320 00:20:15.640 --> 00:20:18.680 confirm whether that sighting was correct or not, so we 321 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:20.559 had to link in with all the different police forces 322 00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:21.839 to try and do those inquiries. 323 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:25.839 He didn't have a vehicle of his own, so they 324 00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:29.519 weren't using the usual AMPR tracking that kind of thing, 325 00:20:29.960 --> 00:20:34.960 but they would have been looking at all public transport. 326 00:20:36.039 --> 00:20:38.599 What we did find as we moved through the tracking 327 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:41.279 on the CCTV, so we'd got some points where people 328 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:45.400 who knew him had last seen him. He'd certainly been 329 00:20:45.400 --> 00:20:47.920 to a supermarket, which allowed us then to track him 330 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:50.079 on the supermarket, which captured him getting on a bus. 331 00:20:50.839 --> 00:20:52.960 Now this bus then we were able. 332 00:20:52.759 --> 00:20:55.759 To track him going into Commentary City Center, but then 333 00:20:55.759 --> 00:20:58.160 we lost him within the sort of bus station area 334 00:20:58.200 --> 00:21:02.519 which wasn't covered by CC so we assumed he'd gone 335 00:21:02.519 --> 00:21:04.759 into the city center to then travel on with We 336 00:21:04.799 --> 00:21:06.319 had no idea where he would have come. 337 00:21:08.440 --> 00:21:13.400 Anthony Russell had been running away since childhood. By twenty twenty, 338 00:21:13.640 --> 00:21:17.000 he was a man skilled in staying under the radar. 339 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:22.279 Anthony Russell took it upon himself to adopt various disguises. 340 00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:25.960 He was a man who hadn't lost his senses. He 341 00:21:26.039 --> 00:21:28.920 was extremely aware that he was a focus of interest 342 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:30.039 by the police. 343 00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:31.599 Or the CCTV. 344 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:35.559 When you put together each still of what he looked like, 345 00:21:35.799 --> 00:21:37.559 he was changing his appearance all the time. 346 00:21:37.640 --> 00:21:38.960 He was stealing glasses. 347 00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:42.240 He'd wear different hats, he'd wear hoods, His clothing was 348 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:43.519 changed quite regularly. 349 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:50.200 Russell was as organized as he was brutal. On Monday, 350 00:21:50.319 --> 00:21:54.119 twenty sixth of October, just hours since Julie's body was 351 00:21:54.160 --> 00:21:58.319 discovered and David still lay dead in his flat, Anthony 352 00:21:58.400 --> 00:22:01.119 Russell was already thinking ahead. 353 00:22:02.680 --> 00:22:05.079 He needed cash and he needed a phone. 354 00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:09.680 He attacks a seventy eight year old man stealing his 355 00:22:09.799 --> 00:22:16.240 mobile phone. He goes to Kenilworth, where, believe it or not, 356 00:22:17.079 --> 00:22:20.400 Russell attacks a seventy one year old woman and steals 357 00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:25.599 two hundred pounds. He drags the poor lady along the ground, 358 00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:26.319 injuring her. 359 00:22:27.720 --> 00:22:28.359 Once again. 360 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:32.160 The actual man who has absolutely no concern for anyone 361 00:22:32.200 --> 00:22:32.839 but himself. 362 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:39.079 Anybody coming into this man's path at this time is 363 00:22:39.119 --> 00:22:39.720 in danger. 364 00:22:42.359 --> 00:22:44.039 On the run from the police. 365 00:22:44.440 --> 00:22:48.680 Wanted for two murders, Anthony Russell was a desperate man 366 00:22:48.839 --> 00:22:54.000 with nothing to lose, and his murderous rampage was far 367 00:22:54.039 --> 00:23:06.160 from over. By the twenty seventh of October twenty twenty, 368 00:23:06.519 --> 00:23:10.960 Coventry double murder suspect Anthony Russell had been on the 369 00:23:11.079 --> 00:23:12.400 run for two days. 370 00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:14.559 Twelve miles away. 371 00:23:14.519 --> 00:23:18.559 In the town of Lemington Spa, Waisha, Police received a 372 00:23:18.599 --> 00:23:20.039 missing person alert. 373 00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:24.000 A man reported that his girlfriend had gone missing. They 374 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:27.480 were begging in Lemington Spa. They had a different spot 375 00:23:27.799 --> 00:23:30.759 in the town where they would beg and when he 376 00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:32.880 went to see where she was when they finished begging, 377 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:37.200 she'd just gone. He made that report on the Tuesday, 378 00:23:37.359 --> 00:23:41.000 so Warwickshire Police started a missing person inquiry into a 379 00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:42.200 girl called Nicole. 380 00:23:44.680 --> 00:23:48.400 Nicle McGregor. At this point is five months pregnant and 381 00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:49.640 extremely proudly. 382 00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:53.759 She got a boyfriend called Chris. They lived in a 383 00:23:53.799 --> 00:23:57.960 flat in Lemington. They were both drug users, but they 384 00:23:58.000 --> 00:23:59.160 were trying to get off drugs. 385 00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:04.079 Nicole had not been seen since the previous day, when 386 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:06.680 she had spent the morning with her partner and a 387 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:11.880 new friend. By Tuesday afternoon, Chris was frantic with worry. 388 00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:15.400 Chris wasn't the sort of person really to interact with 389 00:24:15.480 --> 00:24:18.440 the police. I don't think he was particularly fond of 390 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:21.319 the police, but he got so worried by that evening 391 00:24:21.400 --> 00:24:23.960 that he actually approached the uniform police officer and said, 392 00:24:24.279 --> 00:24:28.880 I'm really concerned that my girlfriend's missing. When the police 393 00:24:28.920 --> 00:24:32.279 started to get the information from Chris, he started to 394 00:24:32.319 --> 00:24:35.960 disclose that the day before they'd befriended a person called Anthony. 395 00:24:36.279 --> 00:24:37.440 He was from Coventry. 396 00:24:38.200 --> 00:24:40.960 It was at that point when the realization came in 397 00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:42.640 that this might be Anthony Brussell. 398 00:24:43.640 --> 00:24:47.680 That same evening, the investigation into the double murder of 399 00:24:47.799 --> 00:24:52.039 Julie and David got a result. The blooded fingerprint from 400 00:24:52.160 --> 00:24:56.440 Julie's flat found a match on the national database. It 401 00:24:56.519 --> 00:24:58.400